The present invention relates generally to rotatable buildings, and is particularly concerned with a service or utilities supply swivel joint apparatus and method for such a building.
Although rotating buildings such as restaurants have been constructed in the past, up to now there has been no effective and safe way to provide services utilities or services such as water, gas or electrical power from stationary lines into the rotating part of the structure. Typically, such services are provided in a fixed central portion of the building about which an outer portion rotates.
Some prior art references have proposed swivel structures for providing services within the rotating part of a building, but these are relatively complex and cumbersome, and would have problems in passing building safety codes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,378 of Kachnic and U.S. Pat. No. 3,636,975 of Kirkman both describe utility arrangements for rotating buildings. In Kachnic, a rotatable hollow support column is rotatably mounted on a fixed pedestal and extends upwardly through the building so as to rotate with the building. Various rotary T and L joints are provided for connecting fixed portions of the gas and water pipes with portions which rotate with the building. This produces a relatively complex structure. In Kirkman, a chamber member is fixed to a stationary base, and a cover member for the chamber member rotates with the building. The chamber and cover are provided with various opposing annular formations of generally U-shaped form or opposing partial chambers to which the fixed conduits and rotating conduits, respectively, are connected. This provides for waste material discharge, gas supply, and water supply. Again, this is relatively complex and would probably not pass building codes. It also does not provide for electrical connections into the building.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,608 of Massau describes a system of collectors for passage of fluids and electrical cables into and out of a rotatable dwelling. Each collector is generally annular in shape, comprising an inner fixed ring and an outer rotating ring rotatably connected together to define an annular chamber between them.
Another problem with existing swivel structures for rotatable buildings is that the seals between rotating portions of the swivel are subject to potential failure. There is no means of effectively detecting such failure other than by taste or appearance of the water supply, for example.